Bakery products, which have been backed by celebrity chefs and have already won several 'great taste' awards as well as providing one of your 'five a day,' are the brainchild of Strathclyde business school alumnus Karsten Karcher.
The bakery products – sold under the Pulsetta brand – are made from pulses, such as peas and lentils and, unlike wheat breads, they are gluten-free and provide one of the recommended 'five a day' fruit and vegetable portions.
Karsten – who has a PhD and MSc (Management Science) from Strathclyde – had a career first with Telewest as strategic account director, and Tiscover AG, an Austrian plc, as executive board director for sales and marketing before founding Pulsetta in 2011.
The idea began to come together when Karsten developed a lactose intolerance and gluten sensitivity and got frustrated by the lack of nutritious foods easily available on the go. "Working a lot internationally at the time, in particular on projects in South Africa, I was inspired by foods from other cultures. Moreover, influenced by my wife who has been a vegetarian since age 12, the idea was born to innovate one of the most staple foods, breads, by using pulses," he said.
Pulsetta took several years to develop from its core idea, and has resulted in the filing of an international patent for "food composition and method of manufacture". The bread is free from gluten and dairy and is certified vegan.
Karsten added, "Prior to launch, we tested Pulsetta with over 1000 consumers and conducted extensive market research.
"Pulsetta is a completely new product to the market. We have won five major awards, including two Healthy Eating awards, and have received a motion in the Scottish Parliament since launch a few months ago. The positive consumer feedback, as well as fantastic feedback received from celebrity chefs to other food industry professionals, has been tremendous."
While there are other gluten-free breads on the market, Karsten is not daunted by this, emphasising that Pulsetta is a unique product. "It's not just about gluten-free; we are more 'free from' than any bread on the market, yet we are also more nutritious. It's bread that provides one of your five-a-day fruit and veg."
While passionate about his business and product anyway, the fact that Karsten's product won several awards so early on has really spurred him on. "We are amazed to have won so many awards – literally within a few weeks of launching. Gaining such strong recognition from top experts in the food industry, healthcare sector, academia and public sector is a great motivator. However, to be honest, nothing beats the smiles of consumers, from kids to seniors, when they try Pulsetta first and love it."
Pulsetta has had 'tremendous support' too from eight Scottish universities, and many public and private sector organisations - including the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, and the University of Strathclyde, which Karsten says have both been "instrumental for key elements of the project."
With two postgraduate degrees from Strathclyde Business School, which included extended periods at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, Karsten feels that his academic experience put him in the right place to start the Pulsetta project.
Having recently expanded the Pulsetta Executive Management Team, Karsten says the company is now embarking on a major fundraising round, supported by Johnston Carmichael, Burness and the Scottish Investment Bank, with the aim of increasing the manufacturing capabilities of Pulsetta and launching UK-wide as well as internationally with "many more tasty products" on the horizon.